Day 3- Late train

[Relent<]

((This thread is intended to offer an entry point for what I hope will be an influx of new players. However, if you're already in and want to help get the newbies acclimated, feel free.))

Katarina had been sent with an envoy to the train station to help transport some new supplies back to the fairgrounds.
A few animals were also on board, and they needed someone capable of wrestling elephants to the ground if they should get out of hand. The return trip had been orchestrated as a parade, and allowed the management to squeeze a bit of free advertising out of the laborers by forcing them to stick to the main roads, thereby lengthening their voyage back from the train depot.

People lined the streets, gasping and laughing and cheering as they passed.

 

[Gothwolf86]

Beth stood on the busy platform as people milled around her, towering over most of them, docile and unmoving like a vast rock amongst the swirling, chattering sea of people. In the distance, a whistle sounded, and she looked along the platform; in the distance, saw the plume of smoke that signaled the train's arrival. She turned to see if Katarina had arrived yet. After all, she had been asked down to help with the animals. Beth smiled dimly. She liked animals.

 

[Relent<]

In front of the railway, standing in a large, swirling crowd of mostly children and their parents, who carried the children too small to get a glimpse of the animal cars from over the shoulders of people in front of them, the various parade patrons each turned around in disbelief as Katarina stooped through the sizable archway and approached the train as it bellowed and slowed to a stop.

"Excuses," she said politely, leaning down and parting the crowd carefully with her hands.

"Would you look at the size of it!" a child screamed, as a boy a bit older than him leaned forward despite his mother's outrage in an attempt to steal a peak beneath Katarina's skirt.

The animals had all been unloaded and filed according to their order in the parade procession at the previous stop, and as the doors of the first car opened and the workers in charge of securing the barriers hopped out with wood and rope in tow, the first thing to follow them was a smartly dressed fanfare of brass instruments, tooting the familiar tunes of gaiety and celebration one learns to identify solely as the sound of a circus. Next, horses costumed with large plumes of feathers and silver beads with vibrantly clothed riders waving flags and banners. A path was cleared to the depot's door, and on the street beyond local law enforement stood in front of small, portable fences to keep the foot traffic from interrupting the procession. Cheers could be heard for miles.

 

[Gothwolf86]

Beth waved at Katarina: a dozy smile across her freckled face.
"Katarina!" Beth's smile turned to a toothy grin of excitement, as she pointed at the animals filing off the train; "Will you look at all those animals?! I haven't seen that many since." She stalled mid sentence, then finished; "For a long time!" She sidled through the crowd, too overcome with childish excitement to bother with other people as she pushed past.

"Isn't it great, Katarina?" giggled Beth, her childish manner unusual for someone of her size. "Ooooh, I'm excited" She hopped from one large, bare foot to the other, her numerous, thick ankle chains and bracelets jangling and clinking loudly.

 

[Relent<]

Katarina resisted the urge to kick someone who was giving her a long whistle as he eyed her endless legs. As the first car emptied--a troupe of clowns on unicycles and other such ridiculous vehicles bringing up the rear--the train hissed and pulled forward so that the second car was in front of the loading ramp. From there, teams of laborers began to push out wheeled cages containing their more ferocious displays: Lions, and tigers, and bears. Two panthers shared an elongated cage, and were tearing at a scrap of raw venison as they were revealed to the rural little town, causing some small children to wail in fear, and some more enthusiatic patrons to "ooo" and "ahh".

Kataria however was waiting on car number 8, containing an Indian elephant which she was tasked with escorting. Already annoyed with the "friendliness" of the townsfolk, the sound of a familiar voice did wonders to improve her sullen mood. Beth had always talked a bit too fast for her to completely understand, but her jovial mood tended to transcend the language barrier.
She smiled and nodded, welcoming the distraction from a man who crooned lecherously to her, "What's a girl got to eat to grow up as big as you?"

"I want to see giraffe." Katarina replied at length. It was the only creature in all of creation that she'd ever seen which was taller than herself, or most phauxnorse for that matter.

 

[Gothwolf86]

Beth watched the clowns go trouping past with suspicion. Although not afraid of them, as such she had a deep mistrust of them. Although, she really enjoyed watching the harlequins, in their tight, multipatterned suits, with their sorrowful makeup, and graceful athleticicism.
She nodded as Katarina spoke, and replied:
"Giraffes are alright, I guess." But she stopped and eyed the cage containing the panthers; 'But I really Like those cats." She smiled and gave a wink to a young, handsome porter stood nearby, who simply grinned bashfully and shimmied back into the crowd. Beth rarely garnered such attention as Katarina, since she dressed much more plainly, and somewhat more conservatively. Odd, for a Phauxnorse.
"I don't know why everyone has to be so horrible to you." Beth sighed, referring to the leering, lecherous crowd of men and boys hovering around Katarina. "I don't find it very polite at all."

 

[Relent<]

"They say it is like poking bear with stick. They just want re-ash-on." Katarina said passively, as the next car was pulled to the platform. The end of the train was finally within the depot, and Katarina looked at the locomotive first, and then at the tail.

She paused and counted on her fingers for a moment, seeing a total of eight segments including the locomotive. The elephant must be on the last car. Right?

The third car hosted jugglers, men on stilts, and a bearded woman. The jugglers worked in teams, as they walked in parallel rows, throwing pins, and fruit, and balls great distances to one another at great speeds, alternating partners like a game of musical chairs, with practiced precision and dexterity. Then a troupe of acrobats dressed in all manner of plumages and mask, and brilliant shades of red and white tumbled out of the car, hurling one another through the air, if not flipping themselves or walking on their hands.
"How many is this?" Katarina said to Beth, holding up eight fingers. She was having doubts about her math earlier.

 

[Gothwolf86]

Beth smiled;
"Eight, Katarina, see?" She reached out and poked the tips of Katarina's outstretched digits in turn; "one, two, three, four, five, six, seven and... eight!"

She espied the bearded woman ambling past, waving frivolously at the assembled crowd, who gasped and pointed as she passed.
"Wonder what that feels like?" Mused Beth, absently; thinking out loud, as she so often did. She cupped her chin and rubbed it. Hers was smooth, though she could only wonder what having a beard as thick and magnificent as the bearded lady's was like.

She adjusted her hair as she watched the acrobats twirl and tumble past; smiling as she admired their intricate agility.

"Don't you wish you could do that?" She asked of Katarina. "I know I wish I could." She extended her arms and balanced on one foot for a moment, like a gigantic, ill-trained ballerina, but soon stopped as she began to wobble.
"I don't think it's going to happen though."

 

[Relent<]

Katarina had held up a finger for every portion of the train, and as Beth counted them off, she followed with fixed attentions as the conclusion of eight total bodies was deduced. She held her fingers in front of her eyes, lining them up with each of the train cars and counting again as Beth had.
The locomotive was one. The first car was two....and finally the last car was seven. But where was car number eight?

Before she could ask Beth if they were missing a car, she began to prattle on about the acrobats, of whom Katarina had always had an admitted envy. She'd never been terribly coordinated, though her clumsiness was mostly in her hands and fingers. She could, however, stand on one foot, and to boast this she raised her right foot up behind her and extended her arms to either side.
At this, she heard a sharp wailing from behind her, which jarred her concentration. Unseen to her prior to her little stunt, a group of boys had been milling about her ankles on a lewd sight-seeing errand, and as she'd raised her foot she'd accidentally caught one of their collars on her second toe. It had happened so swiftly that he found himself suddenly six feet off the ground, without the slightest resistance being offered by his own weight. The other boys, thinking this the giantess long overdue retaliation promptly fled, leaving the suspended boy screaming in terror.

A few ladies in the audience began to applaud--these ladies excluding the boy's mother, who began rushing forward, pushing her way through the crowd to retrieve him. She could grasp his ankles, but would be hard pressed to pull him back down, and Katarina was still confused as to exactly what spectacle she'd inadvertently stumbled into.

As her calf grew tired, she lowered her foot slightly, worried, that her taking such a pose had garnered far too much attention, and the boy's mother was able to get her arms around his middle and lift him from her foot. After he was safely on the ground again, she grabbed him by his ear and pulled him away from the platform. Katarina gradually resumed her proper standing position, as the next car came forward, and unloaded its performing cast of large birds and a float of actors.

Remembering what she'd wanted to ask Beth before, she turned to her and said, "Where is car 8?"

 

[Gothwolf86]

Once she had stopped laughing at the misfortune of the child, Beth straightened out and wiped a tear of laughter from the corner of her eye.

"Car eight?" She asked. She peered along the platform, placing her hands on her broad hips. Now it was Beth's turn to count all the cars. She counted each in turn, then turned to Katarina.
"That's a very good question." She grumbled, frowning. "I don't see it." She pushed her way through the crowd, and walked to the edge of the platform, as if perhaps getting closer to the train would make this elusive car materialise.
She turned back to Katarina, and yelled;
"Maybe it came loose!" Her voice was loud enough to make a nearby engineer cover his ears and cry out in surprise.

 

[Relent<]

Katarina narrowed her eyes in the direction of the train platform. The conjoined twins were sauntering out of the fourth car, each with a castanet clattering in either of their hands.
Behind them, a float of Siamese trapeze artists.
She had sense enough to know that train cars didn't simply come undone like shoelaces: Someone had unhitched it. The question was who? Where? And why?

Katarina turned abruptly to her left, stopping short of a horizontal beam that ran the length of the platform. She stooped underneath it, and begged pardon for her knees as they bent forward and knocked various luggage from people's hands.
She reached a rail clerk window, and had to drop to her knees so that she could look inside to speak with him.
"Can I help you miss?"

She fidgeted her feet underneath her, trying to find a decent and comfortable position to lean forward without showing the room of onlookers the interior of her skirts. Finding something fairly modest in placing her toes against the floor so that the soles of her feet obscured her posterior, she craned her neck down to the window and spoke.
"Train is missing car."
"Oh dear, that sounds quite serious." The clerk said, looking at the route map on the wall beside him. "It would have to be somewhere between here and our rural station a few dozen miles east of here. Your train was the westbound from Port Marche?"
"I think..."
"Just let me make a phone call." He picked up the phone receiver and dialed the number. Katarina was becoming nervous. "I see, thank you." He said at length returning to Katarina at the window.
"The Rural station counted eight cars, is that correct?"
"Eight cars, and smokestack yes?"
The clerk laughed a little. "Yes, Eight cars and the locomotive. If the car had to be removed, it should be somewhere between our two stations. Would you like me to...call...a cab..." He pinched the corners of his eyes between his thumb and forefinger. "My apologies, Miss. The next train isn't due though for the next few hours, but we could have that car pushed to the station for you?"

Katarina placed her palms on the floor beside her and tapped her finger. Her bare ankles crossed, as she sat up on her knees, away from the window.
"No, is o'right. I go get." She crawled back toward the platform, much less bashfully this time and looked for Beth in the crowd. "Beth!" She called, "We must go!"

Something about these circumstances seemed odd. But if the only train between where the car was and where she sat now was not for the next few hours, then what was to keep someone else from waiting on it with more nefarious intentions? She at least needed to confirm that the elephant was still on the car...

 

[Gothwolf86]

Hearing Katarina's call, Beth wandered across the platform, pushing people aside to get to her towering acquaintance.

"Where have we got to go?"
Beth noticed that Katarina looked a little nervous, and gave her a warm smile,
"I wouldn't worry," She offered, extending a hand to indicate the rear of the train. "If that car came loose, or got moved, It won't be too far." She thought then of the poor, giant greyskinned animals stuck inside, and added:
"And I'm sure the elephants will be fine too."

She walked to the platform's edge once again and peered up and down the track, her hands on her hips. She tried not to look at the siamese performers. Although it made her feel cruel, she would have to admit that they scared her.

She turned back to Katarina and asked:
"So where are we headed then?"

 

[Relent<]

((she's scared of the conjoined twins, or people from Siam? There's a distinct difference At any rate, it will effect some plans I have for you later))

Katarina waited for the latest wave of the marching band to blast the crowd with a renewed volume of fanfare and confetti before leaning down to Beth and saying quietly,
"The car is be somewhere on tracks, that way." She pointed toward the vacant tail end of the train. "Elephant and hands-lers stuck for hours is not good. We have go get." She'd wanted to go unheard so that no one would panic at the news that there was an elephant possibly roaming the train tracks. The fewer people who knew about its whereabout the better, but Katarina could only wonder what the parade would do for a finale in the absence of a star attraction.

That pacaderm was presently the largest in captivity. If someone wanted it so badly that they'd rob their train, then there was no telling what danger the handlers were in. . .

She wasn't the least bit inconspicuous in making her exit, taking Beth by the hand and drawing her toward the locomotive. They'd have to exit through the train tunnel if they wanted to circumvent the parade.

 

[Gothwolf86]

((Ooops, I should have made that a bit clearer, I should have said she's afraid of conjoined twins))

Beth allowed herself to be lead towards the tunnel, it was something she enjoyed; being lead; she was, indeed, independent, but it was always nice when someone knew what to do, and it made her feel much more confident to know that Katarina was taking charge of the situation at hand.

Suddenly, a thought struck her, and she stopped suddenly, almost at the end of the platform.
"What if the train was robbed?" She began. She tugged her hand away from Katarina's as a look of panic came over her face. "I don't want to end up getting beaten up, or shot!"
She may have been built like a fort, but getting shot would still be likely fatal to Beth. And as much as she wanted to fetch the elephant back and complete the menagerie, Beth severely doubted that the elephants would be worth getting attacked for.

She turned to Katarina and fixed her with a worried, yet stern gaze.
"Katarina, you have to promise me that if there are any robbers, or thugs, or anyone with guns trying to get the elephants, we'll get the heck away."

Her expression neared on pleading.

 

[Relent<]

((Hehe...I'll make a point then of giving them a more proper introduction later. They're really quite fun once you get to know them...))

Katarina paused a moment, now that they were outside the depot, standing on the opposite side of the tracks as her compatriot. She and Beth shared the same fears, but Katarina hadn't thought it through to the degree that her friend had. What if there really had been some sort of robbery? In the worst case, the elephant would be gone, the handler's dead, and a great deal of tragedy to report to the foreman.
In the best case...assuming that there had been some sort of robbery...it might still be in progress. Everything and everyone would still be in-tact. But upon their arrival, what could they hope to do against the desperate and armed.

Katarina bit her lip, thinking her hardest for an answer. Then she stared at the ground, as she tried to think of the words.
"The trank-lies-er. The handsler's will have one for o-lephant. It is strong enough for robbers. They are our side, and we--" she flexed her arm and slapped her bicep. "We are theirs."

She'd convinced herself to go, and that the errand was worth doing, but just as she'd turned to return to her errand, Beth mentioned that the robbers themselves could be armed. This again gave her pause.
"If robbers have gun, we go for helps. I can run faster," she extended her impossibly long leg, "So I go first when we find car, and you stay in hidden. If I run, you run. I lead them away so you can come back to station. Tell foreman what you see. I get away, and you send helps for handslers and and o-lephant. Yes?"

It was a surprisingly well thought out plan for someone like Katarina. Though the way she described it, it sounded more like a game of hide and seek, with Katarina fleeing to avoid being "tagged" and Beth trying to reach "home" before she was seen.

 

[Gothwolf86]

Beth considered Katarina's idea for a moment, and, in light of the situation; it certainly seemed to her to be the best plan.

She tried not to Blush as Katarina waggled her stunningly long limb, and had to admit, Katarina certainly would be able to run a lot faster.
She nodded her agreement to Katarina.
"That sounds like a good idea." She paused thoughtfully and then added: "But please promise me you won't put yourself in harms way needlessly?"

She peered along the tracks and sighed.
"It's a heck of a walk Katarina, I suppose we'd better make a start."

The cold steel tracks stretched away into dark, cavernous maw of the tunnel, and whatever trouble lay beyond.
Checking first one way, then the other, Beth too a few steps towards the mouth of the tunnel, enjoying the sensation of the gravel underfoot, not to mention the delightful scrunching noise it made.
"Are you going to lead, or shall I?" She asked Katarina.

 

[Relent<]

Beth was right again. The distance would be great on foot, even for someone with legs as long as hers. If only she could have fit in a cab. As they reached the tunnel, she paused, suddenly anxious of the dark, tight space. Deciding it would be best to barrel through it, and continue rather than walking around or over the large hill through which it was carved, she resentfully followed Beth through the opening.

"Time is short." she said after some time shambling in the dark, as she leaned down, and picked Beth up. Fumbling with her limbs and accidentally fondling her a bit in the dark, at length, she had gotten her onto her back in a sort of piggy-back orientation. The light at the end of the tunnel began to approach them quickly as Katarina charged forward not unlike a locomotive herself.

 

[Gothwolf86]

Beth cried out in surprise as she felt Katarina's strong hands grasp her, and move her. She was not oblivious to Katarina touching her more tender parts, but knew no harm was meant, and said nothing, however, her surprise soon turned to amusement as she was bundled onto the Phauxnorse's back.

"Wheee!" She exclaimed, between laughs. Beth had always loved piggyback rides, since childhood, although, admittedly, it was rare for her to find someone capable of lifting her these days.
She gripped Katarina's shoulders firmly, and wrapped her thick, powerful legs around Katarina's midriff.

As the end of the tunnel neared, the sudden influx of brilliant light made Beth's eyes sting and water, the pupils having adjusted to the interior of the tunnel, and now being stunned by the sudden light. Unable to raise her hand to shield her own eyes, she did the next best thing, and bobbed her head behind Katarina's.

A few strands of Katarina's hair swept across Beth's freckled button nose, and she twitched back, giggling. That was a nice feeling.

 

[Relent<]

Katarina let out a sharp squeak as her companion began to accidentally dig her heels into the pits of her thighs, clamping tightly to her as she sped along. The accidental tickle though broke her stride and she stumbled for a moment, taking a second to place her hands under Beth's butt to hoist her higher, so that Beth's heels were pressed against her abdomen rather than her hips.

Her eyebrows furrowed a bit as she noticed the specific...volume of her companions bottom, as it quite adequately filled her grip....more so than her own, as a matter of fact. A twinge of jealousy stuttered its way into her fingers as she groped it again, making sure that she was grabbing what she thought it was. Realizing at length that her curious squeezes were probably a bit inappropriate, she decided to address her hands as passively as possible.
"Oh...Are you o-right back here?" She said, slowing her pace more mechanically, and drawing Beth's attentions from her hands to her concern.

 

[Gothwolf86]

Beth giggled as she felt the firm touch of Katarina's hands on her generous rear.

"I think I'll be a lot better when you've stopped copping and handful, darling" She laughed, there was no malice in her words. In all honesty, the firm touch was somewhat welcome, and had brought some colour to her freckled cheeks.

She adjusted herself to her new position, and peered over Katarina's shoulder, the fresh air was welcome after the dank, clammy moistness of the tunnel, and she took a deep breath, glad of the breeze that blew against her as Katarina bounded along.

Beth settled in her new position, comfortable despite the jarring of Katarina's footsteps, and rested her chin on her 'steed's' shoulder, taking in the sights of the long grasses and thick flowers that thicketed the railway embankment. It sure made a change from the grim grey and red-brick of the city.

 

[Relent<]

Katarina laughed at Beth's retort, and responded,
"I keep hands off you butt, if you keep feet out mine crotch!"
She maneuvered her arms so that she was holding Beth by the wrists, keeping her ankles intertwined around her ribs, pulling her forward and resting the bulk of Beth's weight on her shoulders, leaning forward a bit so that she didn't bounce as much.
The trumpeting noise sounded again off in the distance, and a smell like an animal's cage drifted toward them in the breeze.
"O-lephant!" Katarina shouted back to Beth, forgetting for a moment that she was on her shoulders. She'd taken the position of a large knapsack as of late, and Katarina had forgotten she was carrying her. They're faced came very close as she looked back to apologize, almost knocking their foreheads together.

 

[Gothwolf86]

Beth laughed and gave a whoop as she was once again manhandled. It felt good to be moved around so firmly. She couldn't explain it, but it was a nice feeling. Besides, Katarina was doing the walking for her, so she couldn't really complain.

Resting her bosom on Katarina's shoulder, Beth propped herself up, and, from her elevated position, she found she had a much better view.
Indeed, as the sound of the elephant rolled over the countryside, she was certain that she could see a train car ahead.

When Katarina shouted her claim that the elephant was ahead, Beth scrunched her face up at the volume of Katarina's voice, so close to her sensitive ears, and, when she finally opened her eyes, she found her own face extremely close to Katarina's
Beth wasn't used to being this up close to people, and her cheeks began to colour out of shy uneasiness.

'Um,' She began, 'Perhaps we should hurry and get the elephant hmm?'

 

[Relent<]

"Yes." Katarina agreed, not entirely sure what it was that had made her associate so flustered all of a sudden. Could it be her loud voice? She decided it would be better to whisper.
"O-right. There, see?" She said slowing her pace as they rounded a bend in the tracks and entered a clearing bordered on either side by sheer rock faces that loomed a few hundred meters up. This area had undoubtedly been cleared for the construction of the railroad by dynamite, as no flora or fauna seemed to occupy this...crater. It was desolate, and as Katarina's toes touched the dirt of this newly scarred ground, it was warm, hard and dry--almost like a marble floor strewn with sand, only it cracked slightly underneath her weight.

She didn't like it. The cart stood undisturbed on the track. Beside this track, another track ran beside it, and between them a levered reversing bend. The elephant was the only thing that made a sound. Where were the handlers?...

 

[Gothwolf86]

Beth gasped as she felt Katarina's warm voice blow in her ear, and her long, Labyrinthian ears twitched and wiggled sheepishly.

She hunched her broad, freckled shoulders up around her ears and turned away, desperate to hide her rapidly colouring cheeks.
Instead, she devoted her attention to the sparse, bizarre canyon. She paid particular attention to the ground. It looked almost un-earthly.
'I'm getting down, alright?' she asked Katarina, though she didn't wait for an answer, and slid carefully off her accomplice's back, landing gently on the ground. Apart from the gritiness of the sand, the marble-like ground was cool and the sudden feeling of coolness beneath her bare soles caught her breath.
'oooh..' She gasped. 'That's strange.' She wiggled her toes and made a mildly concerned face. But now, her attention turned to the elephant, which trumpeted occasionally from within the confines of the car.
'Katarina!' She exclaimed, smiling, 'You hear that? That's the elephant! We've found the poor thing.'

 

[Relent<]

Katarina gently released Beth, careful to place her quietly on the ground. As she spoke, she placed her palm on top of Beth's head, and lowered her middle finger over her face, the second phalangeal bend arcing over her nose, her fingertip landing softly on her lips in a quieting gesture.
Even if the handlers had gone for help, there would be at least one or two who would stay behind to mind the animal...

But the only thing she heard was the elephant. No conversation, or idle whistling. No irritated shouts at the beast to be quiet in the midst of these stressful and trying circumstances. All was quiet...Katarina shivered.

She lowered herself to the ground, placing her knees together and putting her hands on either of Beth's shoulders as she looked her in the eye.
"Remember plan. You hide, I seek. Yes?" She looked around for somewhere Beth could conceal herself. The bushes were all sparsely leaved or completely dead. There were no trees. Thinking quickly, she reached under Beth's arms, and lifted her up, carrying her toward an overhanging of rock a few feet up. Standing on her toes, she put her on the small 6 or 7 meter high bluff.
"Lay," she whispered into her ear, just before setting her down. "Stay low, and stay quiet. I go."

She looked a moment into Beth's eyes again, making sure that there was no tremor of fear or doubt in them, before she proceeded to see to her errand.

She walked quietly toward the train car...